MyDigitIsLikeTheClassicCardGameWar,ButRequiresAStrategy

My Digit ($0.99) by Fatolu Toye is a turn-based game that, at is roots, is like the classic card game War. Taking many queues from the visual design of the turn-based hit Letterpress, this game is similar in that it is like the popular word game, but uses numbers instead. Also, unlike the luck-based nature of War, My Digit involves a bit of strategy as well.

Despite being forced to play against an auto-matched opponent, My Digit is a game that requires strategizing around predicting future moves. The game is War-like in that two cards are played at the same time, where the one of greater value is a winner and is given to the individual who played that card. However, you don’t just draw from a deck when playing cards; instead, you have to decide which ones to throw down.

How does this make the game any different, might you ask? In My Digit, points are used to determine a winner. When the two numbers played do not match, the player who went first receives a number of points based on the value of the card played. Unless there is a match, in which case the round is just counted as a draw, whichever number was played by each player cannot be used again. The game ends when both players run out of their numbers from zero to nine.

This is where the importance of developing a strategy comes in. On one hand, you might think it would be good to play a higher number so you earn the points from it, since the odds are against having a draw, but any smart opponent will know when you’re going to make such a move, and can easily play the same high number to nullify your efforts. The only glaring issue right now is that there’s no option to actually play against another human, which was a major disappointment for me to find out. However, the developer is actively working to add support for playing against Facebook friends on iOS and Android, so there is hope.

Despite initially thinking that My Digit might be a mediocre spinoff of War, and after realizing that some thinking is required, I am enjoying the game to some extent. However, I won’t be able to truly enjoy it until we can play against other people, and for that reason, I think it might fall a bit short right now, since the game largely feels unfinished. But for what it is and what it will become, it could be worthwhile in the future. For iPhone, you can find My Digit for $0.99 on the App Store here.